


Prepared for Worst Case Scenarios

by sanctum_c



Series: Endless Summer 2019 - Cloti Flavour [6]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Clothing, F/M, Nibelheim (Compilation of FFVII)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:54:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27822607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Tifa's attitude to Mount Nibel.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Series: Endless Summer 2019 - Cloti Flavour [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032405
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Prepared for Worst Case Scenarios

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt 'Summer Clothes'

The changes of the season made little different to Tifa’s choice of wardrobe. Nibelheim was cool all year, sometimes raising to warm in the hottest summers, but otherwise experienced a distinct risk of hypothermia during the night-time for the unwary. Even getting past the climate, Tifa did not have the luxury of others in town who could afford to wear short-sleeves and thin garments. Providing and tracking safe routes across the twisted mountain peak required her ever prepared for changes in the weather.

Some might argue such precautions were unnecessary; Tifa had trekked along the mountain trails for a full seven years. Familiarity bred risks, and Tifa remained always a little fearful of the mountain. The fall when she was younger had left her comatose for a week. If Cloud had not been with her- It did not bear thinking about. Left alone, lost in the labyrinth of the peak’s lower reaches- Not a risk she ever wanted again. But there was more to it, always a hint of Mount Nibel never remaining static. Not something as blunt or obvious as a sink-hole or the reactor pulling sufficient Mako from the ground it fell inwards.

No. It was something else. A weird sense of disorientation at times. It came and went so fleetingly and occurred in so varied locations, Tifa could never be certain it happened. But when the sense struck her- In those moments - thankfully only ever a handful of seconds - she lost everything. Sight wavering, the path reversed or gone or running at an impossible angle. The wind, monster sounds or the hum of the reactor replaced by something almost like singing. But the singer – if they existed – was not human, nor were the words distinguishable. The voice was the worst part of those moments. Seemingly offering something but never clear what.

While these moments had only ever occurred a handful of times – and thankfully only when Tifa crossed the mountain alone – the risk remained they might not be so brief. The doctor had checked her over repeatedly and insisted nothing was wrong – or at least nothing he could find. For anything more in-depth she would need to make the trip to somewhere more advanced. More effort than it was worth. And it was not as if the moments increased in number or anything more worrying. They simply happened at irregular intervals.

To this end, Tifa ensured she was always prepared for the worst case scenarios, including at the height of summer. Mount Nibel itself helped justify her choices thanks to its off-season, perpetual coldness. Water-proof clothes, emergency food, pop-up tent, radio. Not many qualified in the town to come and help if it came to it. But, though he was not qualified per se, Cloud was familiar enough with Mount Nibel to come if she ever needed him.

Together they spent most of their teenage years exploring the various trails and finding the routes down to the great plains beyond. Near every other boy Tifa had grown up with was lured away by promises of fame, fortune and glory; the Shinra company offered all three in one way or another. From the letters Tifa received back, gaining any of those goals was hard going and her friends were in hopefully temporary jobs they could use to claw their way up. So many years had passed and little progress made in this regard.

Cloud had no notion of venturing into the same line of work as Tifa; instead he became apprenticed to the town’s lumberjack and spent the days logging – often far closer to the town than Tifa. He confessed – eventually – he had crushed on her most his life. The major reason why he trailed after her up Mount Nibel all those years ago. And why he kept on going when all her friends grew fearful and why she confessed to him alone her strange experiences alone on the mountain.

At first their relationship grew out of necessity and proximity. The last children of Nibelheim it felt at times; such a huge gap between the adults and them and the new-borns. The stigma surrounding Cloud and his Mom shifted after the mountain too; when he painstakingly dragged Tifa home and when she confirmed how he had saved her. Time together became expected. Near every moment of every day, meals, commiserations and successes. A natural progression from friends to lovers and ultimately to spouses.

Tifa could cope fine with Mount Nibel. She was sure-footed and intensely knowledgeable with regard to the terrain. But if worst came to worst; if she should ever fall badly, should the mountain truly ensnare her and those moments of confusion become longer, she knew – absolutely knew - Cloud would not rest until he found her once more.


End file.
